Namibia North to South

Arrive at Hosea Kutako International Airport and transfer to The Windhoek Luxury Suites, a stylish boutique hotel on the city's eastern edge. Settle in on a bed & breakfast basis and meet your guide for a welcome briefing before dinner at the in-house Stellenbosch restaurant.

Drive north to the Otjiwa Reserve near the Waterberg escarpment, one of Namibia's oldest private reserves. Settle in at Eagle's Rest, a tented camp set among leadwood trees, and head out for an afternoon game drive in search of white rhino, sable, roan, giraffe and the reserve's thriving sable herds. Dinner, bed & breakfast.

Travel north to Etosha National Park, entering through Andersson Gate. An afternoon game drive introduces the park's plains game and predators, with time at a floodlit waterhole after dark. Check in at Etosha Safari Camp, a Gondwana collection camp of thatched chalets just outside the park gates. Dinner, bed & breakfast; first of two nights.

A full day of guided game drives across the Etosha salt pan and its perennial springs. Elephant, lion, black rhino and large herds of springbok, zebra, blue wildebeest and gemsbok gather at the waterholes. Return to Etosha Safari Camp for a second night.

Move west into the Etosha Heights Private Reserve on the south-western boundary of the park. Set on a hillside with sweeping views over the reserve, Etosha Mountain Lodge offers a more private, exclusive game-drive experience. Dinner, bed & breakfast; first of two nights.

A full day exploring Etosha Heights on private game drives, where cheetah, leopard, elephant and the desert-adapted species of western Etosha are the draw. The reserve also protects rhino, and night drives (not possible inside the national park) offer a chance to spot the nocturnal predators.

Drive south into Damaraland to the Brandberg, Namibia's highest mountain, towering over a stark gravel-plain landscape. Ozondjou Trails is a small, fully-inclusive tented camp dedicated to tracking the desert-adapted elephants that follow the ephemeral riverbeds here. First of two nights on a fully inclusive basis.

A day with your local Damara trackers in search of the Brandberg's desert-adapted elephant, plus the famous White Lady rock painting and other San rock art sites scattered across the massif. Sundowners close the day before a second night under canvas at Ozondjou Trails.

Travel south-west through the Namib gravel plains and past the Messum Crater to the Atlantic coast. Arrive in the German colonial town of Swakopmund and check in at the Organic Stay Guesthouse, an intimate B&B with a lush garden and renowned breakfast. Bed & breakfast; first of two nights.

A free day for Swakopmund's optional activities — a catamaran cruise on Walvis Bay for dolphins, seals and pelicans, a living desert tour, quad biking over the dunes, or a visit to the Cape Cross seal colony. Return to the Organic Stay Guesthouse for a second night.

Drive inland and south through the Kuiseb Pass to Sesriem, gateway to the Namib-Naukluft. Stop at Sesriem Canyon, carved by the Tsauchab River. Overnight at Little Sossus Lodge, set at the foot of the dunes with views over the Namib. Dinner, bed & breakfast; first of two nights.

A pre-dawn start to reach the towering apricot-coloured dunes of Sossusvlei at sunrise. Climb Dune 45 for views over the sand sea, then walk into Deadvlei, a white clay pan of fossilised camel thorn trees against orange dune walls. Return to Little Sossus Lodge for brunch and a shaded afternoon, with a second night at the lodge.

A long drive east and south across the escarpment to the red sand dunes of the Kalahari. Settle in at Kalahari Anib Lodge, a Gondwana collection lodge on the edge of the Kalahari, and head out for a late-afternoon game drive in search of springbok, gemsbok, ostrich and the cheetah that hunt the dunes. Dinner, bed & breakfast.

A final morning on the reserve before the drive north to Windhoek and onward departure from Hosea Kutako International Airport.